I have a couple of items of local interest to bring to your attention. One has to deal with the construction of the horse riding facility and exercise/show ring at El Dorado Reservoir. I received a comment on why the camping improvements for the horse riders could not be restricted to just those that bring horses to our lake and not share the nice shady sites with other campers.
The response from Jerry Hover, Director of State Parks, was pretty direct. “All KDWP campgrounds and parks have mostly, if not all, general public funding in the development and/or acquisition of the various state parks which prevents any type of total exclusive use by any one group.”
Jerry further stated, “The increased equestrian usage and demand trend was identified several years ago and many improvements are in the annual and long range plans, these are implemented as funding allows, such improvements are now being made at El Dorado SP.”
Jerry and I discussed the prospect of a special event being designated for use of the area and this is a distinct possibility. As of this writing the area in Boulder Bluff that is being remodeled is closed to all campers as we finish installing utilities. If you get a chance, go out and take a look at the progress. The lake is a great asset for our community as well as the entire State of Kansas, and we should be proud of the efforts of the state and volunteers that make improvements possible.
You may remember that last year we were able to acquire funding and volunteers for upgrading the campground in the Walnut River Campground area #2 by increasing to 50 amp the RV electrical receptacles, adding heat (sorry no cooling) to a shower house and many other improvements. That campground has been re-designated as “FRONTIER Campground”.
This brings up another issue and that being the taxation meeting I attended last week on watercraft and boating registration within our state. Currently many boaters register their watercraft in Oklahoma where the taxes and registration are much less expensive. For example, one fisherman friend told me to register his boat in Kansas would have cost over $1,200 and by driving to Blackwell Oklahoma he got the boat and motor registered for less than $250.00.
The local marina manager thinks we would increase revenue by lowering our tax on watercraft, simply by getting those that travel out of state for registration to register at home. His “unofficial” guess was we would receive 10 times the registration as we currently do. All we need to do is look at the boats moored at Shady Creek Marina and you will see many out of state registrations. The state gets federal matching dollars based on boating registration so we are losing that money to our friends to the South as well.
This tax issue is one that we have worked long and hard to bring about change, this coupled with open park admissions could be a real boost to tourism in our community. Another features my family often uses is the bike path that leads to the swim beach.
The 10’ wide path will take you from the Walnut river at the east of town all the around to the spillway of the lake. I understand there are plans to continue this on to the college. Boy! How cool would that be? Many of our citizens use this concrete walkway to get their heart rate up, enjoy nature, and see many friends, try it sometime, you may get “hooked”.
I have been working with some constituents on some issues that many of us do not ever encounter. Last year we passed some legislation that allowed the State Parole Board to take into consideration “time served”, for those inmates that have been incarcerated for a period of time that is longer than that crime would receive as punishment today.
We call this the “indeterminate sentences” vs. those convicted of crimes that their punishment falls on the published “guidelines”
Sadly to say that we even have to go through this process, however when someone has paid their debt to society by being locked up for a period of time as punishment for a crime that today would receive a lesser term of imprisonment, many think they deserve release.
The argument can be made that if an inmate has an exemplary record, no trouble, no violations while in prison he should be given the benefit of time served. Several of my colleagues have requested the Kansas Parole Board to respond to the passed legislation that requires the use of credit for time served. We will wait to see how they respond. I really would appreciate your input on this issue.
As you have heard we are in a bit of a budget crunch. The Governor has requested al agencies come up with ways to cut 2% or so from their budgets. Guess what? The only thing that has surfaced is to cut programs. Take away services to those that may depend on them the most. You might care to comment on this as well, I report more next week.
I consider it an honor to represent you in Topeka and I do want to know what you think, contact me in person, or at home 1115 Rim Rock Road, El Dorado 67042, 321-2087, or on the internet: johng@carlisleinc.net, grange@house.state.ks.us. Past updates are available at www.johngrange.net.
Thanks again, John.
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